I saw these at our local “gadget emporium” and it made me laugh (notice the “perfect solutions” brand name), but it also reminded me of the challenge we face every week at actionchurch. I actually believe that the “instant snowball maker” would work. I am pretty certain that if I were to ever be in a snowball fight and need perfectly round “cartoon-like”snowballs…I think it would be handy to have a set of these around. What I don’t believe is that rare occasion is worth me parting with $14.95 + tax. I also don’t believe that even if the “instant snowball makers” were free or (God forbid!) given to me as a gift…I would be able to find them in my cluttered garage or attic in the event that it snowed and I needed to make that perfectly round snowball. Even if I actually thought they were worth the cost…I don’t think I could store and “retrieve” them when necessary.

That’s the challenge of sharing God’s truth every week at actionchurch (or any church). I believe that God has the “perfect solution” for our day to day lives. I also know that our lives are cluttered with information. Email, 24 hour news channels,the web, books, magazines, 100’s of cable channels, and mp3 players that allow us to carry thousands of songs add to the clutter. Every Sunday people choose whether the cost of showing up to church, listening to a sermon, and implementing biblical principles in their life is worth the “cost”. Even if they “buy in” to the solution, unless they are given a powerful storage and retrieval system, life changing truth is “lost” among the clutter of information and media in their lives.

This challenge shapes everything we do on Sunday mornings at actionchurch. That’s why we “tie” biblical principles to songs you can hear on the radio. It’s why we strive each week to visually reinforce the one “big idea” of the sermon with video clips or other visual media. It’s why we strive to teach about what the Bible’s solutions are for big, common, problems. (There’s lots of great information in the Bible…but the layout of the Jewish tabernacle probably won’t be considered “necessary” enough to be either “bought”, “stored” or “retrieved”.) It’s not easy…in fact it’s a lot of effort for everyone involved. We do it because we believe God’s word, and we are willing to do whatever is necessary to give it more than a “snow balls chance in hell” of being put into action in peoples lives…